Friday, May 10, 2013

Recently I’ve been contemplating giving up on the modern
world and moving to a cabin in the woods. I mean – what is with all of this
technology, the 50+ hour work week, and guilt over the simple pleasures like
spending time with friends and family on the weekends? Maybe I would be able to
feel happier and more fulfilled if I turned my back on the world of today and instead
started living a simple life. After all, despite the fact that technology has
made our lives easier over the past century, people do not report being happier
than they were before smart phones, computers, and the internet.

Picture it – a cabin in the woods next to a gurgling river,
a garden out back with beautiful flowers and delicious produce, a feeling of
being close to nature, like my ancestors. More time for important social
interactions, which are really at the heart of a meaningful life. No more
random interneting or hours spent ignoring my husband in favor of my smart
phone. Instead I’ll spend my days doing meaningful things, going to bed with
the setting sun and sleeping as much as I need. Really, imagine it. Don’t you
all want to come and join me in the woods?

But would I really be
happier if I gave up modern conventions and moved to an isolated cabin? Up
until a few hours ago, I really thought that might be the solution. But then I
read an article by a 26 year-old, Paul, who had given up the internet for a year.
He felt that the internet was preventing him from figuring out who he truly
was, and it was time to take back his life and his identity. And giving up the
internet was good – for the first few months. He spent more time with friends,
used his boredom to write more and explore his creativity in other ways. He
read more and went out more. But then Paul adjusted to not having the internet
and soon found himself developing bad habits offline. He was unable to keep in
touch with people who were far away, and his snail mail began to overwhelm him
until he was unable to cope with sending responses to his fans. The moral of his story – we are who we are
and we will be who we will be, internet or no internet.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

When I was younger, I can remember being split into teams in
gym class and different tables in art class and having one question: how many
girls and how many boys are in my group? Depending on the activity, it seemed important
to know this so you could assess your chances for success. More boys on your
team, and you might be more likely to win dodgeball. More girls at your art
table, and you might paint a better mural.

An adult might have told me that was silly - how many boys
vs. girls were in my group didn’t matter. However, recent research suggests
that the gender composition of a group does matter. Though it doesn’t matter in
terms of impacting actual performance, it can influence how group members think
about one another and about their group as a whole. Because I love research
that examines people in their natural (or somewhat natural) environments when
they are interacting with other people, let’s take a look at how the
researchers demonstrated this.